2012 PGA Tour Predictions

Another year another opportunity for some guys to come out of the shadows and make buckets on money like the rest of us only dream of !! Will it be a season full or parity again or will the familiar names roar back to the winners circle hoisting that Happy Gilmore check?

With Hawaii kicking off the season it seems like some familiar faces are showing up on the leader board but that is only the beginning of paradise.. Just ask Mark Wilson from last year. Is it better to win early or late or maybe  when making strides for the FedEx Cup en route to that 10 mill? Golfmoolah certainly doesn’t have a crystal ball but we do have a loud opinion and feel we can make a run at some off the wall predictions for the next year.

So here it goes….take these to the vegas window and bet the farm just don’t complain if we get everything wrong, haha

Some Stand outs for 2012 we feel will really be in the hunt each week

• Dustin Johnson  The guy is a gamer and coming off knee surgery we feel he will break through with multiple wins not to mention a possible major
• Phil Mick – Does he really need a blurp? The guy is solid and will win a couple
• Rickie Fowler – He will burst onto the podium with his first win and be a star in spots not to mention be a social media king
• Bo Van Pelt – The southern assassin has a trophy in his game this year based on a cool name alone….Cool under pressure will make this a smooth victory
• Tiger Woods – Watch out this year…he will be coming at everyone like a raging bull looking to destroy anyone in his path…killer instinct

Major Winners

• Tiger Woods
• Dustin Johnson
• Steve Stricker
• Jason Day

What will this years controversy be? Will it be on the course or off? Will it involve someone’s equipment or maybe a rule that nobody ever heard of? Email us and let us know what your thoughts are and what you think will go down this year on TOUR !! Bring back the guy that travels in the beat up Winnebago that’s hungry like the wolf and would do anything to get a win s he didn’t have to hit the all you can eat Cracker Barrel in Truth or Consequences New Mexico !! Down the Road people

Going Mobile on the PGA Tour

How long will it take for the PGA Tour to go MOBILE? It’s like a freight train barreling down the tracks at an unstoppable pace…the mobile industry is taking over everything as it will the golf industry/tour. There have been early adopters from apps such as Golfmoolah, tour players personal apps for instruction and tournaments guides such as the Masters & US Open.

I am talking about more of an invasion though, will caddies scorecards be replaced with mobile devices or tablets….will players be able to see where their competition stands during a tournament via that particular device? what about ordering your lunch as you walk the grounds of Bethpage or finding a foursome to play with after being inspired by the tour players? Anything and everything is possible when it comes to the mobile industry… just depends on who is making the calls at the top of the ladder and if they are progressive or still have a bit of the Hootie Johnson left in them.

As it stands now there have been some major breakthroughs: Take for example allowing spectators bring in mobile devices past the ropes..that is huge and was an inconvenience that wasn’t going to work much longer. Why can’t a course be geo-targeted so as soon as you enter the property you are hit with coupons for merchandise such as hats or logo golf shirts? With the penetration rate being at 96% of the public it seems that it would only increase the amount of traffic and boost the bottom line sales to benefit the tournaments proceeds by 20% at least.

So, get ready for the invasion of the Mobile device cause it’s coming quicker then you can even imagine and will be in your hands before you can blink and eye. Down the road people

The “What If” for the FedEx Cup Race

Here are some of our picks for the Cup race and what they need to do in order to get that BIG check in the end….granted some of these scenarios are from PGATOUR.COM so take it with a grain of salt, haha

Our boy Phil….longshot but that’s why they play the game isn’t it? We feel the Mic could surprise us all with his experience and wily short game. How is it that a guy with such a talked about short game can miss so many three footers?

When is this dude going to win something of significance? NOW would be a good time Dustin !! Get rid of all the demons come sunday and just play like you are back on the muni with some buds that skipped work in order to spray a couple…DO IT

Those are our picks for the challenge…lets see what happens people

FedEx Cup…..Do We Care?

The FedEx Cup was an exciting and glories addition to the tour when it first arrived on the scene…but what does it hold for the viewers now? Once a battle between the top guns on tour that rewarded guys for winning and winning in dominating fashion has been reduced to guys who do relatively well all season with little to no fire power…granted it’s purpose is to reward consistency, but do we care about a guy who does relatively well? The answer….NO NO NO !! We want a beat down like the thunder dome – tw men enter one man leaves…we want to see a guy get that big cardboard check because he has reduced his opponents to rubble on a weekly basis.

Since there is no clear cut favorite from week to week it seems disturbing that we will have someone hoisting the cardboard check that we could care less about…..similar to having a number one in the world that can’t win…hello Luke Donald does this ring a bell? Granted it’s a life changer to win and i would certain not give it back for any reason but as a golf fan and a watcher of golf i could care less about the race as the contenders have little charisma to show for it. Lets give JD or Fuzzy that check and sit back and watch the show..haha just saying

In conclusion and to wrap up a complete run-on article it just seems lack luster and BORING to even follow the FedEx Cup this year….so, what are your thoughts and picks to win? Down the road people

We like Kuchar or Dustin to win it….but who cares !!

2011 PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS POINTS FOR THE FEDEXCUP

Battle At Congressional

Will we see the ghost of Ken Venturi work its voodoo on the field this year at the 2011 US Open Championship or will the third time around for the Open at this historic course bring us a relatively unknown player who goes on to do great things a la Graeme McDowell?

Any way you slice it some how some way there is always a weird twist to this major…..it brings out all the demons in players and opens up a pathway big enough for a truck to drive through for those that have never sniffed a major championship. Will one of the young guns dominate this gig or will we see crafty Phil bring it home with some savy short game play and experience that can never be underestimated?

So…without any further delay the Golfmoolah precidtions:

We see some guys really taking over this tournament with clear vision and great iron play…but ultimately it comes down to putting. We like the folloing:

Dustin Johnson, Phil, Kuchar and our sleeper is Rickie Fowler

Vegas Odds for Congressional:

Lee Westwood 10 to 1
Luke Donald 12 to 1
Phil Mickelson 12 to 1
Rory McIlroy 16 to 1
Martin Kaymer 20 to 1
Dustin Johnson 22 to 1
Steve Stricker 22 to 1
Hunter Mahan 25 to 1
Matt Kuchar 25 to 1
Graeme McDowell 28 to 1
Nick Watney 28 to 1
Bubba Watson 33 to 1
Charl Schwartzel 33 to 1
Geoff Ogilvy 33 to 1
Jim Furyk 33 to 1

Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Course !!

The Players Championship always provides us with a lot of drama or to be more specific the 17th !! Lets just go to Sunday and the 17th to decide this thing !! It seems the unknown walk up to the tee box shakin while the big guys are hoping to get there as fast as possible in order to gain those much needed strokes they gave away in previous holes.

There have been so many great shots take place on the hole that some claim to have lost its luster and yet so many still make a HUGE number…so which is it in your mind? Still the 800lbs gorilla or just another gimmicky hole for TV ratings?

In true Golfmoolah fashion we present you with our predictions for this weekend !!

Winner - Ricky Fowler breaks through for his first victory and celebrates with Bubba by blowing up some large mouth bass at Bubba’s lake house 4th of July style !!

Melt Down – Paul Goydos has had trouble on 17 before and this year will be no different as it’s all mental…splash splash

Some memorable moments that these players wish they could forget:

Bob Tway hits five balls into the water at the par-3 17th and makes a 12 in the 2005 tournament. It’s the highest score ever recorded at the hole in competition.

John Daly shoots an opening-round 79 in 1997, then embarks on a now-legendary pub crawl through the Jacksonville beaches, ending at the Sawgrass Marriott where he trashes his room and is taken away by emergency responders.

Fred Couples hits a tee shot into the water at No. 17 during the first round in 1999. He re-teed and then knocked his shot into the hole on the fly for his “hole-in-three.” Still disgusted, Couples sends caddie Joe LaCava to the green to retrieve the ball.

Battling a shoulder injury, Michael Campbell birdies the 18th hole to shoot 89 — thereby avoiding what might have been the first 90 in the history of The Players at the Stadium Course. Campbell withdraws after the round.

Phil Hancock takes a 12 on the fourth hole in 1985, the highest score in a Players on a par-4 hole.

2011 Masters Tournament Odds

The hallowed grounds of Augusta National are upon us once again and the landscape might be the same on course the field has certainly changed. Are the young guns taking over with their a new guy winning each week or will the grizzled old vets take control in the grand daddy of em all? This is not just your average weekend tournament pressure, this is the holy grail of eyes cast upon you just waiting to pounce on every melt down or mistake. You can’t hide here, you can’t have a poor day and then get it back you need to put together four solid rounds and with one lights out performance in there to get the green jacket.

The argument is old vs new – long vs short – conservative vs risky – experience vs newbie – or any combination of these….history tells us that the winner will be a tour veteran with Major wins already under his belt but just as history repeats itself there are always circumstances stranger then fiction. Is this the year you see a long shot win or a tour rookie or even an amateur? What about a first time winner like Rickie Fowler? I guess what i am saying is that if anything can happen in this tournament this is the year it has a good shot due to so much parody on tour…..as they say ” These Guys Are Good”

Which brings us to the point of this entry…the odds and predictions of winning the green jacket !! So, our thoughts are the following in no particular oder with Vegas odds on deck:

GOLFMOOLAH’S PICKS

KJ Choi – this dude is like a surgeon on these greens and has a history of placing top five so many years it’s annoying at this point…break on through my man !!

Nick Watney – Solid play this year and finishing 7th last year makes him a good shot at the jacket….just needs to keep it together

Phil – The guy has an eye for the greens and seems to perk up no matter what kind of year he is having..this is kinda the emotion pick as he still has serious game

Tiger – He is due to just put a muzzle on all his critics and what better place to do it then the Masters? Jack won his 5th on the same timeline so why not tiger? Has the potential t crush the field if he can putt

Hunter Mahan – After a serious choke in the Ryder Cup this would be the ultimate redemption…top ten finish last year he seems comfortable on this track

Rickie Fowler – We like his guts and flash…the guy can putt in a rain storm with wind and five naked chics next to him s why not win the green jacket dressed in pink? it could happen

Last years Top Ten Finishers

1 Phil Mickelson 67 71 67 67 272
2 ENG Lee Westwood 67 69 68 71 275
3 Anthony Kim 68 70 73 65 276
T4 K.J. Choi 67 71 70 69 277
T4 Tiger Woods 68 70 70 69 277
6 Fred Couples 66 75 68 70 279
7 Nick Watney 68 76 71 65 280
T8 Y.E. Yang 67 72 72 70 281
T8 Hunter Mahan 71 71 68 71 281
T10 Ricky Barnes 68 70 72 73 283
T10 Ian Poulter 68 68 74 73 283

March Madness on The Links

What better way to see the best 64 golfers in the world battling it out then in a bracket busting format? Nothing like seeing the underdog or smal school in hoops taking out a big dog in the first round of the NCAA D1 March madness Tournament…truly one of the best couple of weeks in sports and one of the only that offers up the opportunity for the no name to beat the BIG name. Such is the case in the WGC match play format that is currently taking place at the Ritz Carleton Dove Mountain Resort !!

This tournament provides the everyday golfer to relate in a way they usually can’t to the tour players…..showing vulnerability & cracks in the armor. Who hasn’t been sitting over a knee knocker putt in their regular friday group in a win or go home format? It’s incredible to see the gamesmanship and upsets in what really is a sudden death weekend. So much to learn from this….when to make a guy putt out, when to press your game, when to apply heat and when to back off. Obviously, anyone can win at this level and you need to bring your game to every match or you are GONE.

Would be great to have more match play tournaments included in the regular schedule…maybe have the top 32 golfers automatically in and the rest play their way in to add serious excitement and upsets from people you have never heard of…almost a Tin Cup type deal. So, with that said…enjoy the matches and see how your brackets stack up against the hoops on a % basis….not easy on both accounts. Down the road

Are Smart Phones Smart For The PGA?

The day is here where the gallery no longer has to worry about getting to the gates of a golf tournament only to find they forgot to leave their cell phone in the car !! No longer do you need to check it in at the entrance in hopes that it will actually be there when you return without someone poaching it for an upgrade. With the Honda Classic fast approaching the GA has announced that for all PGA events phones will be allowed on premise but in restricted areas for now…….not sure why they are lumping people in like cattle or with the smokers but it’s a start.

Golfmoolah is obviously an advocate for this ruling but not for the reasons you might think…….Yes, we would encourage people to download our App but it’s more of a movement into the current evolution of technology. With smart phones a part of our everyday lives and running the way we operate on the internet it was just foolish to think keeping them out from the ropes was a case of tradition. I am all for keeping the peace and not having some assclown yapping on his phone louder then Sergio complaining but that happens regardless of a phone in the hand or not.

People on the whole are very courteous to the golfers and other patrons alike……just nice to see you will be able to keep in touch with a friend while on the grounds to meet up or maybe even buy some merchandise via a tournaments application. Skies the limit really but thank you to the PGA for recognizing this is more then a means of communication but a part of our social behavior. Down the road people.

PGA Merchandise Show 2011 & Golfmoolah Face Off

It was a snowy Wed in the deep dark wintery mix of Connecticut when Golfmoolah embarked upon its first PGA Merchandise Show!! Two feet of snow and the last flight out of Westchester County airport wasn’t going to stop us from showing the world what we had to offer…ok, that was a bit dramatic but you get the idea.

Status report from the show – It was exceptional to meet people face to face that we have been corresponding with on a regular basis as well as display the Golfmoolah Application to the general public. It was received with open arms and astonished faces as the capabilities seemed to kick on a light bulb in many people.

The show itself was enormous stretching from one end of the earth to the next…given a flat globe of course !! Products that you could not have even imagined were out there and products that amazed even the most sophisticated palate. Having access to all the latest equipment was a god-sent for those who need a yearly update in their bag….R11 seemed to have a never ending line along with the booths dishing out free beer to all those willing to stop for a moment.

So for al you great cooks out there……..oops, wrong show !! So fr al you great golfers out there who have the desire to up your game or at least look god doing it…the PGA show was a home run !! Down the road people and keep an eye out for our predictions on the Waste management Open !!